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National Cathedral to install statue of Rosa Parks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Washington National Cathedral is preparing to dedicate a new carving of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in a section of the church devoted to human rights.

The Episcopal cathedral formally installs the new sculpture Thursday with a ceremony of evening prayer songs. The carving of Parks will join others on the cathedral's Human Rights Porch that celebrates those who struggled to bring equality and social justice to all people. Other figures include former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

One of Parks' nieces, Rhea McCauley, will join the ceremony, along with Elaine Eason Steele, co-founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

Parks' refusal to give up her Montgomery, Ala., bus seat to a white passenger in 1955 is often cited as the start of the movement against segregation.